The Influence Of Sino-British Interaction In The British International Settlement On The Construction Of A Cosmopolitan Shanghai

By opening Shanghai as a city port back in the mid nineteenth century, the Qing Empire not only opened a gate to trade but also to decades of continuous interaction with the foreign powers that deeply influenced the city in many different levels, driving it to what it is today.Being the British the first to settle in Shanghai they were consequently, the first to establish ties to Chinese local population. Even though in most cases those ties were ones of dependency in which the former group enjoyed a privileged position and the latter group an unprivileged one; there were also more balanced ties in which they both obtained mutual benefits.In any case, this almost century long cohabitation was a key factor to the development and construction of Shanghai as we know it today as well as the construction of the idea that remains in both foreigners and Chinese about this city.As a result of this interaction, Shanghai gradually became the ideal city in a country that is marked by strong economic differences between people from the West of China and people from the East coast, the goal which every city in China should reach. For the foreigners, Shanghai represents a cosmopolitan city where they have found all the best the perfect amalgamation between East and West.